Question About Setting Gain And Volume On The Pod X3

When you work with a real live amp you can set one volume high and the other low to overdrive the preamp. Very common thing to do. I was just wondering if the makers of the X3 included that emulation.

Well, yes, they most certainly did. To make explicit what I implied in my previous post: The volume of the preamp is Drive. The volume of the power amp is the Amp/Tone (both map to the same thing) Volume.

I've downloaded several presets from the Custom Tone part of the site and I've noticed that on some of them (even Van Halen presets) the person who made the preset has the gain on the amp at around 5 or 6 and the volume at around 5 or 6 or 7. What I have always done is crank the gain up higher to around 8 or 9 and run the amp volume higher as well, around 8 or 9. I simply like a high gain tone.

But I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing. Is there a reason to make a Van Halen preset and only put the volume on 6? And the gain on 6?

Are you supposed to run the amp volume or tone volume lower and then crank up the POD's master volume?

Is there a difference between keeping the gain high and the volume high while keeping the master volume low, and keeping the gain low and the amp volume low and running the master volume high?

“gain” in the sense of distortion, a.k.a. Drive in the Amp block? If so, that’s very different from volumes, of which there are three: Amp/Tone Volume, the combined Dual Tone volume on the Home Page, and Master Volume.

Changing the amount of Drive changes the timbre of the patch. You can do that if you want, but you’re deviating from the intentions of the person who made it. Which is fine if you like it better that way. And why would they use what you consider a low level of distortion? Specifically because, as I first said, that was the sound they wanted, for example if they felt it better simulated the tone of a particular artist. Sorry, but this seems obvious. Again, if your preferences differ, do whatever you like. It doesn’t mean there was no reason for using a level of Drive less than 8. Plenty of Tones/Amps call for that.

On the other hand, changing any of the volumes just makes the patch louder. And, unless you have a specific reason to turn them down at all—chiefly to ensure certain Tones don’t come out a lot louder than others live—having the Tone and Master Volumes as high as they will go without clipping is optimal because that maximises the signal-to-noise ratio of the POD. The manual explains this clearly.

I believe I do remember the manual talking about signal to noise ratio. When you work with a real live amp you can set one volume high and the other low to overdrive the preamp. Very common thing to do. I was just wondering if the makers of the X3 included that emulation.

When you work with a real live amp you can set one volume high and the other low to overdrive the preamp. Very common thing to do. I was just wondering if the makers of the X3 included that emulation.

Well, yes, they most certainly did. To make explicit what I implied in my previous post: The volume of the preamp is Drive. The volume of the power amp is the Amp/Tone (both map to the same thing) Volume.